Ingredient of the Week: Mint

Refreshing and delicious, mint does more than just freshen your breath. From plant to oil, it doesn’t take too much digging to find its benefits, like providing sinus relief when inhaled, or relaxing those tense muscles. Herbalists believe inhaling mint oil incense helps open the mind and calms the nerves. It has some antioxidant properties and can be used as an anti-itch relief for bug bites or other skin irritations.

Though you can buy mint by the handful at the grocery store, it’s just as easy to grow mint. But a word of caution: it spread like wildfire! To prevent it from taking over the garden, consider planting it in a clay pot, then sink that pot into your herb garden. You can also grow mint fairly easily indoors or bring it inside for the winter months.

Here are the recipes that Lisa and I are going to be giving a test-run this week. What will you be cooking?

• Silver Monk Cocktail (Food & Wine)
• Homemade Girl Scout Cookies: Thin Mints (Baking Bites)
• Chickpea, Barley and Zucchini Ribbon Salad with Mint and Feta (The Kitchn)

This week, join us in trying out these or other mint recipes and sharing your results. We are looking for tried-and-true mint recipes to add to our recipe book. Share your favourites below!

Ingredient of the Week: Chocolate

No, we are not teasing you! This week’s ingredient of the week is none other than (wait for it…) chocolate! Now, before you go grabbing a Mars bar, keep in mind that we are talking mainly about about dark chocolate here – let’s not get completely out of hand.

The higher amount of cocoa content, the healthier the selection when it comes to chocolate. Rich in antioxidants and minerals, there is absolutely no reason why having some of this (not so) sinful treat in your life has to be a bad thing.

We say this is the week to let the chocolate-lover within take the reigns in the kitchen!

Here are the recipes we can’t wait to get cooking this week:

• Chocolate Chip Chili with Sausage (Simple Bites)
• Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding
• Chocolate Hazelnut Flourless Cake

Have any great sweet or savoury chocolate recipes to share? Share them below!

Ingredient of the Week: Black Beans

Black beans are becoming increasingly popular, and for good reason: few foods can rival the fiber, protein, and anti-oxidant cocktail that they serve up. They are superstars for digestive and heart well-being. Native to the Americas, you will often find them lending their rich, smokey flavour to the deliciousness of Latin-inspired cuisine.

Because cooking beans from scratch is a time-consuming venture, buying them canned is often a more convenient, perfectly reasonable alternative. Just watch for the sodium level in the canned varieties.

We are on the search for go-to recipes that include black beans! Have an easy, favourite recipe that includes this ingredient of the week? Share below!

Here are the recipes that Laura and I are going to try this week:

• Black Bean and Mushroom Burgers
• Brazilian Feijoada {Slow Cooked Pork and Black Bean Stew}
• Baked Black Bean Taquitos
• Quinoa Salad with Black Beans, Avocado, and Cumin-lime Dressing

Delicious Dish: {Best Ever} Orange Cranberry Loaf

 

Colour Commentary

I dug through my freezer looking for something to accompany oranges in a loaf, and I had a nice “Ah-Ha” moment. It seems obvious now, but the sweetness of oranges is a great companion to the sometimes tart cranberries. Bring them together and you have the best ever Orange Cranberry Loaf. After tasting the first one, I went to it and made fourteen more. (Yes, I had that many bags of frozen cranberries in the freezer) I kept a few out, gave a few to friends and the response was the same all around “Oh My God that’s good.”

Each recipe makes about two loaves

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
• 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
• 1/4 cup margarine, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup orange juice (I freshly squeezed my oranges because I was zesting so many, but any orange juice will do)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in orange zest, cranberries, and pecans. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together margarine, sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in orange juice. Beat in flour mixture until just moistened. Pour into prepared pan until half-full.
4. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until the bread springs back when lightly touched. Let stand 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
5. Enjoy!

 

Ingredient of the Week: Orange

Though there are a number of different kinds of oranges out there, today we’re talking about your standard one, you know, the one you pack in your lunch every day. The possibilities are so much grander than just a lunch-time side. And in fact, you really should add them to other foods because they are great for you!

Juicy and sweet and most commonly known for its Vitamin C, just one can give you over 100% of your daily recommended dose! It’s also a great source of fibre, primarily in its skin and the white stuff some of us like to peel off. Oranges are generally available from winter through summer with seasonal variations depending on the variety.

We can thank the French for bringing over oranges to cities like Louisiana when they were just settling it. It’s believed they are responsible for making that area through to Florida rich in oranges.

This week, we’re on the hunt for your tried and true Orange recipes. Let’s think outside the box on this one and come up with great ideas! Share your best cabbage recipes below. Here’s what we’ll be cooking:

• Fennel, Orange, and Shallot Salad (The Kitchn)
• Orange and Balsamic Chicken (Martha Stewart)
• Cherry-Orange Cream Scones with Blood Orange Caramel Sauce (Back to the Cutting Board)